Day 13: THATS IT!! Back to Winnipeg.

As expected, it rained a bit last night and it was 6 degrees overnight. Way to go, yesterday.

HOWEVER, with a new sunrise came a new day, and a damned good one at that. After very apprehensively slinking out of my sleeping bag (I must have looked like such a wuss), I packed up and got on the road. I was determined to make it a good day, and driven to get to Winnipeg in good time to enjoy some time with friends.

My good buddy Jacob showed up around 8 to tail me on the road. Jake is a professional photographer, but go figure, he didn't bring is camera. It was great to catch up with him, but we didn't stop for too long, since we knew the longer we spent out there, the less time we'd have to kick back and relax. That's when things started to get scary. It might have been some macho male thing, but apparently I felt the need to impress Jake. Without even really realizing it, I was keeping a good pace... ok, a very good pace.

By the time we reached Headingly, I looked down to check my average speed and almost fell off my bike (which would have been the second time today) when I saw that my average was at 30.40km/hr. I had done over 100km from MacGregor and managed to maintain a speed that got us there in just under 3 hours. There had been a slight wind, however it was a north wind, which would have simply blown across me.

Go, go, gadget legs.

Headingly was directly on the West edge of Winnipeg, however Jake quickly crushed my spirits when he told me it was still another 29.7km to his place (stupid urban sprawl). Unfortunately, we turned south to take the perimeter and the wind picked up, directly in my face. By the time we turned back east to cut into the city, it was too late. My beautiful average had been lost and I ended up at a measley 29.54km/hr average. Granted, it crushed my previous averages, most of which included a good tail wind, but I was just mad that I didn't beat 30.

Jake's wife Jess and my friends Brad and Asten (whom I grew up with) all showed up at Jake & Jess' place and we spent a good while catching up, reminiscing, and introducing ourselves to Asten's gorgeous new daughter, Camryn. It was great to see everybody and though Asten and the little one had to head home, Jake, Jess, Brad, his wife Marie and myself will be going out for a nice big meal tonight. Most people would likely feel like a bit of a 5th wheel... but I'm used to being single.

I have tomorrow off, which I couldn't really justify since I just had the weekend off in Souris. HOWEVER, while my body is all caught up, Gladys, my trusty steed needs some attention too. I dropped her off at Alter Ego Sports, who have been kind enough to offer a free tune up and basic repair on anything busted. I'll pick her up tomorrow and get ready to head off towards Ontario on Thursday.

And now... back to our regularly scheduled steak dinner.

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